Contrary to popular belief, acne doesn’t just affect teenagers. While it’s more common in young people, anyone of any age can have acne.
A consistent Korean skincare routine helps your customers with acne-prone skin keep blemishes at bay. Many Korean skincare products are specifically made to prevent and treat acne, and some can even help minimize the appearance of acne scars.
Since acne is a widespread skin concern, you will likely have customers who want to purchase products to help them keep their complexions clear and breakout-free. To help you meet your customers’ skincare needs, we’ve created a guide on the best Korean products for acne to stock for your store.
The Best Korean Acne Products
The Best Cleansers for Acne-Prone Skin
The first step of the classic Korean skincare routine is cleansing. This part is essential, as thorough yet gentle cleansing clears away the excess sebum and dead skin cells that clog pores and cause blackheads, whiteheads and other forms of acne.
COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser
COSRX is a well-loved and highly-reviewed Korean beauty brand known for exceptionally effective products that incorporate minimal ingredients and are gentle on the skin. Many fans claim that COSRX makes the best Korean products for acne.
The Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser is one of COSRX’s most popular products. Its main ingredient is salicylic acid, a beta-hydroxy acid or BHA. BHAs are widely used in skincare to treat mild acne and prevent breakouts by gently exfoliating the skin.
The Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser also contains tea tree oil, a nature-derived ingredient that soothes skin inflammation while helping to kill acne-causing bacteria.
As its name implies, this cult-favorite product is gentle enough for daily use. It can be used to cleanse the face on its own or after using an oil cleaner.
The Best Toners for Acne-Prone Skin
It’s not just oily skin that gets acne. Dry, irritated skin can also cause breakouts by stimulating the oil glands to produce more sebum to compensate.
Korean toners are packed with ingredients that hydrate and nourish the skin. It also prepares the skin for additional moisturizing products, allowing them to penetrate deeper into the skin.
NEEDLY Daily Toner Pads
The brand NEEDLY specializes in “essential skincare” and is wildly popular in Korea, with major Korean health and beauty stores carrying its products. One of its best Korean skincare products for acne is NEEDLY Daily Toner Pads, which many YouTube and TikTok influencers have reviewed.
Needly Daily Toner pads provide a simple, mess-free way to tone skin. The pads are infused with essence that contains the mild exfoliating agents salicylic acid and gluconolactone, a polyhydroxy acid (PHA), which helps keep your pores clear of sebum and dead skin cells.
Some By Mi AHA BHA PHA 30 Days Miracle Toner
Some By MiI is famous for its 30 Days Miracle Line, which features products packed with acne-fighting ingredients. The toner from this line is a bestseller: According to Some By Mi, it has sold more than 7 million units of the 30 Days Miracle Toner worldwide.
This toner’s primary ingredients are a blend of alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs), BHAs and PHAs. All are exfoliants, but each works differently, addressing unique skin concerns.
AHAs work on the skin’s surface to address surface-level skin imperfections like fine lines and sun damage, BHAs work on the surface while clearing pores and PHAs exfoliate while helping strengthen the skin’s barrier.
The Best Acne Soothing Ampoule
Ampoules are a K-beauty staple. They are highly concentrated, serum-like liquid treatments that address specific skin concerns.
SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Ampoule
This ampoule calms and soothes irritated, inflamed skin, making it an ideal choice for people with acne, as acne is an inflammatory condition. Its star ingredient contains 100% Centella Asiatica extract, a trending ingredient that has taken the Korean skincare world by storm.
Centella Asiatica not only minimizes redness and inflammation but also strengthens the skin barrier and helps it retain more moisture.
The Best Acne Blemish Care Serum
Like ampoules, Korean serums contain active ingredients that support skin health. Korean serums are gentle on the skin and are meant to be used daily after cleansing and toning.
Numbuzin No.5 Goodbye Blemish Serum
Numbuzin has been one of the fastest trending brands in recent years and develops products that target specific skin concerns. To make skincare less confusing, Numbuzin numbers its products instead of giving them long and complicated names.
Numbuzin No.5 Goodbye Blemish Serum is specifically formulated to help prevent acne and address the hyperpigmentation that acne often leaves behind. It contains ingredients that help brighten and hydrate skin as well as even out the complexion, such as Vitamin C, Hylauronic Acid and Niacinamide.
The Best Breakout Treatment
Pimples often pop up when you have an important event coming up, such as a job interview or a date. Hydrocolloid patches, also known as pimple patches, are ideal for these kinds of situations, as they quickly work to address breakouts. In fact, some pimple patches can dry out pimples overnight.
COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch
This is one of COSRX’s most popular and well-known products and a staple for K-beauty fans. It works by absorbing discharge from pimples, reducing their size and speeding up their healing time. The moisture from the hydrocolloid also helps with healing and protects the skin from infection.
The Best Post-acne Treatment
Sometimes, when blemishes heal, they leave behind dark spots called hyperpigmentation. These marks are caused by the skin’s natural response to inflammation, which is to produce more melanin. Acne treatments may help minimize the appearance of post-acne marks.
AXIS-Y Dark Spot Correcting Glow Serum
The AXIS-Y Dark Spot Correcting Glow Serum ends our list of the best Korean skincare products for acne.
AXIS-Y is a K-beauty brand that makes “climate-inspired” skincare products that target skin concerns caused or worsened by environmental factors like pollution and sun exposure. Its Dark Spot Correcting Glow Serum is a multitasker, helping reduce hyperpigmentation caused by acne and sun exposure as well as hydrating and brightening skin.
The Dark Spot Correcting Glow Serum contains 5% Niacinamide, which has several benefits for the skin. Niacinamide helps even out skin tone, lightens dark spots, minimizes the appearance of large pores and helps keep the skin’s surface moisturized.
Discover Trending and Top-Rated Korean Acne Products at UMMA
When you need high-quality and highly-reviewed Korean skincare products for your business, turn to UMMA. We are your new favorite supplier of Korean beauty and skincare products from top brands like COSRX, Numbuzin, A’pieu and Dr. Jart+.
Our sources are official brands and authorized vendors in Korea, allowing us to guarantee authenticity and a steady stream of inventory, giving our customers peace of mind. We work with businesses of all sizes and provide the same exceptional service whether you own a small social shop or a sizable wholesaling business.
Browse our selection to find the best Korean products for your store!